You Found Me
by bowtruckle90
Summary: First installment of a series in which we gain insight into a very private Titan: Robin. When his past suddenly and concerningly comes back to almost slap him in the face, can he make his amends and convince her that he can help her regain the life she could have had. There might be trouble with the scene breaks; don't judge. Robin&OC. I don't own the Teen Titans.


The girl turned tail and made another turn. Robin tried following her and when he made the same turn there was nothing there. As he stopped Cyborg and Beast Boy, Cy panted, "Hey man, what's the rush? We lost the main guy and it doesn't look like we're doing any better with the patsy. Let's go home and keep an eye out for the next one."

Robin didn't answer. Cyborg shrugged and followed with BB close behind.

Robin couldn't let this one go. Not again.

When Robin looked around, there was an alley, there, narrow and dark. "Cyborg, can you shine your light in there?"

"Why man? Aren't we going at this a little hard?"

"Just do it please."

Cyborg sighed and stepped in front of the nook. With the flashlight popped up out of his shoulder, there was an audible curse coming from the hole. Robin looked in and there she was, wedged between the walls. "Hi Gemma."

"So what, you've been a jewel thief since you left?"

"I've been living my life, Robin, and I'll thank you to leave me to it. It's not easy but it's better than the league."

"Maybe it would be easier if you stopped being a criminal."

"Can't. I'm in too deep to change anything now. And now you're here."

"Why do I make the difference?"

"Because you're you. You're going to turn me in and that's worse than anything he could do to me."

"If you've been coerced and need protection-"

"I don't! I've been doing fine since I left and I'll continue to do fine…without you!"

"They sent me out here to find you! I've been here a year looking for you every chance I get! I've been breaking my back for you because I was worried about what had happened! You left for training and you never came back!"

"I'm not obligated to tell you anything anymore Robin, I owe you zip, so back the fuck off!"

The argument hadn't started until they got her back to the tower. Cyborg drove the girls and Beast boy and a handcuffed Gemma while Robin rode his motorcycle back. Gemma was silent the whole way, and said nothing while Robin led her to the hospital ward on an upper level, but the second the door closed behind them the fight continued even while Robin handcuffed Gemma to a hospital bed.

Cyborg had actually sat himself on the couch in the corner with chips beside BB (they had both escorted Robin and the prisoner upstairs) and they were thoroughly enjoying the occurrence. Robin never talked about his life before the Titans. Now suddenly it seemed that that part of his life was about to slap him in the face. Who would pass that up?

Gemma started things off, "I've been here almost since I left. I'm alive, I'm healthy, and I can still kick your ass, so why don't you let me go home and we'll just say you never saw me."

Robin punched a button on the wall he was standing near. A steel plate fell over the door and the opposite window. The light was dimmed until Robin flipped on a switch. "You're not going anywhere. Not until you tell me who's hurting you and making you do this."

"I'm not hurt. I'm with someone who loves me and gets me everything I want. Happy?"

"No. Look at all these." He brushed his fingertips over her slightly purple cheek, and another green and yellow patch exposed on her clavicle by the undone zipper of her black jumpsuit. "I can help you. You know I care. Why are you running from me?"

"Because there's nothing that can be done; there's nothing to be done. I'm fine and I left the league for a reason. Ever think I'm happier out here? Besides, you left me plenty."

"I didn't know you thought of it like that."

"I did…I do."

"So you hate me for that? You hate me for doing the training mandated by the league?"

"I don't hate you…I just never wanted to see you again. You walked out on me. Often. I was left alone and suddenly there was no one to speak up for me when things got out of hand at the center."

"I did feel bad. What would you have suggested I do? Say no to the justice league?"

"I did. Why can't you?"

Robin didn't say anything but he didn't open the door either. "You're upset. And wherever you're calling home these days isn't safe, clearly. Can you please just spend the night so we can talk about this?"

"He's going to be expecting me home. I should be there right now. You're going to get me killed."

Robin cast his gaze away. "Why don't you trust me anymore?" He sounded hurt.

Gemma hardly knew what to make of this. Robin had always been fun loving, happy, assertive, even angry sometimes, but never…quite like this. It made her heart ache.

"Robin, I was never cut out for the hero life like you, and you know that. I needed you to help me. And every time you were sent on those stupid training sessions away from the center or went out with Bruce you didn't even tell me you were going. You were just gone. When you weren't there I was put through the ringer like you wouldn't believe; I had to leave. The life was going to kill me. I make a good teammate, but I'm no hero."

Robin didn't really have anything to say. It was true. He had left without saying anything to her. He hadn't really wanted to. He had had feelings of protectiveness about her, and he already felt guilty. Robin had thought that if he just turned his back and didn't think about Gemma being left behind he wouldn't feel compelled to take her and run one day. So, yes, he had left without saying anything to her, something he had always regretted. Now that choice, apparently, was the cause of whatever kind of trouble she had gotten into.

"Listen," he said. "The only reason I'm not turning you in is because you're not stealing jewelry of your own free will. We need to keep talking this out, but I don't think you need a body guard." He cast a look over his shoulder to their audience. "Come upstairs to my room and we can hash this out there." He pushed the security button again and the steel barriers retracted, and he undid the handcuffs and helped Gemma up. Together they walked toward the door, a reluctant Gemma following Robin.

"Aw, man!" Cyborg whined. "We're gonna miss the good part!"

Robin gave Gemma a pair of his pajama pants and one of his tee shirts and while she was changing in his bathroom, he changed into his own pajamas and made up the couch. Actually, he had started to straighten the one unused side of his California king, but then reminding himself of how upset she was with him and the kind of person she was supposedly living with, he went ahead and made up the couch instead. A couple of pillows, a few blankets...but when Robin turned back to his own bed, Gemma had come out of the bathroom, wearing his things, and had made herself comfortable on his bed.

Robin walked over to his bed. "I guess I'm taking the couch?" he asked. Gemma shook her head, eyes closed and a smile on her lips. "I don't hate you, you know," she said. "I just...wish I had known."

"That's no reason to self destruct," Robin said, flopping down on the bed beside her. "You know better than to get tangled in with people like this. You would never even talk to someone like this." He reached up and stroked her cheek.

"I wasn't doing so well on my own. I needed someone."

"How often does he hit you?"

"Only when my bag doesn't have the kind of haul he expects."

Robin's eyebrow raised. "Should I be waiting for the other shoe?"

"Or when he's particularly upset at me. I'm supposed to keep track of surveillance in each location before we hit it. Sometimes I miss something." She still had her eyes closed and was quickly dropping off to sleep. "I guess I always hoped you'd come and get me."

Robin lay on his back and clasped his hands over his stomach. "If I promise to protect you, could you leave?"

Gemma didn't answer, but she turned over and began to breath deeply. Thinking she was asleep, Robin did the same, but instead of sleeping, he started to think of how he was going to break the news to his team that Gemma would be staying for a day...

Or two...

Ideally forever...

When Robin woke up the next morning, Gemma was still sleeping. Thinking of how long it had probably been since she had had a good night's sleep he decided not to wake her. But he didn't particularly like the idea of leaving her either. She might well try and run if he didn't watch her, so how was he going to eat breakfast?

Well, that was what intercoms were for. He got slowly out of bed so as not to disturb Gemma and walked quietly over to the intercom. Pressing the button for the kitchen and living room, he looked on the monitor screen. Cyborg was already up, as per usual, and fixing a gigantic stack of pancakes. When the cybertron looked around, he hollered, "Mornin' man!"

"Shh," Robin prompted. "Gemma's still sleeping. I don't want to wake her yet, but I have to be here when she does wake up. There are things that obviously need to be talked about, and I don't want her to try and leave. Could you bring up a couple of plates?"

Just then Starfire and Raven came and sat at the island. "Why will you not come down and eat the breakfast with us, Robin?" Starfire asked. Oh well, he thought, at least Cyborg and Beast Boy didn't tell them all about the felon in their house yet. The girls probably thought Robin had turned her in after questioning her last night. But Robin also thought there was no reason to out and out lie to them, so he responded, "I have someone up here."

The girls nodded, and amid Beast Boy's latest complaints about the lack of tofu at the table, Robin clicked off the monitor and turned around to see Gemma sitting up and stretching. She smiled and looked over toward Robin, saying coyly, "What exactly am I supposed to be dressing in?"

"You take a shower, let me work on that. Extra small tops and size zero jeans still?"

Gemma nodded and stood up. Before disappearing out the window on a grappling hook, however, Robin said, "Oh, and Cyborg is supposed to be bringing up breakfast, so if there's a knock...on second thought, you might want to check first. The girls know someone's here." An eyebrow raised at this. "Well, you don't want to answer Starfire's questions outright. She takes getting used to, trust me."

Gemma saluted and shut the bathroom door, and Robin lowered him self down the building's side to go shopping.

Gemma was drying her hair off with a towel and enjoying the feeling of fresh skin. Looking around for something to put on besides another towel, she saw Robin's bathrobe hanging on a hook behind the door. She shrugged into the red robe and sighed at the sight of the yellow "R" inscribed on the chest.

Robin was always so proud of his responsibilities, making sure everyone knew he was there to help them. Even when they were young, he seldom took off his mask, even when he was out in the world wearing jeans and tee shirts. She was not a fan of his hero-mania. She was not a fan of being a hero herself, to be honest. She could spar with Robin all day and neither of them would win, but she never had the drive for it. She didn't care enough. And she was never quite good enough. The League was always telling her to gain some weight, bulk up, train harder. The harder she trained the more she hated her future and how it looked. Bruce gave her the idea for an out and she took it. No more trying to be something she didn't want to be. The only trouble was she had to tread water as a civilian and that had landed her in a tight spot.

Her thoughts drifted to Robin. Why he didn't say goodbye to her when he left. Was it her fault? She didn't know. And she didn't blame him if their spat last night was merely a sign of what was to come. They had been in it together, and she broke them apart.

A knock at the door interrupted her thoughts. Tying her hair with a tie from her wrist, Gemma opened the door for Cyborg who was carrying a tray of pancakes as tall as the length of Gemma's forearm. "Here you go, and a good morning to you!" He looked around. "Where's Rob?"

"Um, out getting me clothes, I guess." There was an uncomfortable silence filling the room. It was getting to be so heavy, until Gemma broke it. "I hope he doesn't go and buy a whole wardrobe, I'm not staying. I can't."

Cyborg sat on Robin's bed. "But he wants you to. I can see it; he does. He's worried about you; only trying to help."

"I know," Gemma shrugged and sat beside the half metal man. "But he can't change this. I'm stuck until my boy's arrested. Or dead."

"Well," Cyborg said, setting a plate of pancakes in her lap, "I'd be surprised if he lets you leave now. The League might ask for you, but I doubt he'll let you go knowing what he knows now."

Gemma looked at him oddly. Something struck her. Yes, Robin now knew about the abuse she suffered with them trying to make her a hero. But only since last night. And Robin hadn't even challenged her allegations. Robin was a fierce loyalist to the League, he would have at least asked a question unless…

"Why didn't he challenge my allegations?" she asked. Cyborg wouldn't look at her, but he got up and made for the door. "Wait," she called after him. "Cyborg, why didn't he even ask a single question?"

She stepped in front of him blocking the door. "So help me," she said. "You don't want to know what I could do to you with the right software...now tell me."

Cyborg sighed and looked her in the eye. "Robin...has your trainee case file from the League. He keeps it in a titanium briefcase with an encrypted lock. I caught him reading though it one day, totally an accident. He told me about you. But he didn't know you were pushed so hard by the League when he wasn't around and that that was the reason you ran. They documented everything they put you through and the results. It sounded way harsh, even for me."

"But they would never have sent him out here with that information to find me. It's irrelevant to the goal."

Cyborg tried to change the subject. "He's been looking for you. Now that you're here, he's not likely to let you go."

"Gemma! You there?" Robin was climbing back in the window, bags in hand. Cyborg let himself out and let the door shut behind him. Beast Boy was walking down the hall, and said, "Hey Cy...what's with you and Robin's door?"

"Just waiting for the room to blow when she starts yelling."

Beast Boy leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. "So you told her, huh?"

"Well, the conversation kind of went in that direction."

Beast Boy listened at the door, but pulled his ear away when a shriek came through the steel door. "You pulled my file!"

"Cy," BB said, "let us pray."

"You pulled my file from the Justice League!" Gemma hurled the alarm clock at Robin's head, and he dodged it expertly. "I can't believe you stole my performance records!"

"Look, Gemma, it's all part of what I wanted to talk to you about. I have apologies to make, and that's one of them." He took a breather and watched Gemma take a few deep breaths. He had gotten her at the apology. "I didn't know you were being treated that way. I'm sorry. The League called me when you went missing a year ago and told me to find you. I knew you weren't endowed with special powers and you have no desire to be a hero on your own so I wondered why they were so anxious to have you back. I took the file to understand why. You went through training far too rigorous for you and that could tarnish their reputation; the whole mission is a cover-up attempt. I did as they asked, and I have been trying to locate you. But I never intended to turn you over. I have the files so there's no record of what's been done to you, and if you stay here I can convince them you've chosen our side." He cast his eyes down and smiled, rubbing the nape of his neck. "You made it hard though. Never saw hide or hair of you until that botched job."

"The blessing of be a worthless hero, I guess," Gemma said softly. "But did you really have to show my file?"

Robin shrugged and retrieved his clock. "Cyborg helped me keep the others from wondering what I was doing with my Sunday evenings when I'd go out following my leads on you."

"Oh come on, every Sunday?"

Robin crossed the room and set the clock down on the nightstand Gemma was standing in front of. He pulled her into a hug and whispered, "For so long…I thought it would be easier once we got the computer power. Even with all the technology available to me, I still didn't get much of anywhere. I'm just glad I found you." He pulled away so he could see her still bruised face. "Before anything really bad happened to you."

Their faces were close. Their lips were less than an inch away from one another. And getting closer, so it seemed. All they had to do was pucker and...

"Robin! Oh, Robin, I simply could not wait to meet our new friend! May I please meet her now!?" Starfire had burst into the room, hover several inches off the floor, eyes wide and hands clasped together, pleading.

Robin stepped away from Gemma. "Sure, if she's up to it."

Gemma shot Robin a look, playfully this time, and turned toward Starfire with a smile. "Hi, I'm Gemma. And old friend of Robin's. You're part of his new team?"

"I am Starfire, would you like to be my new best friend?!"

Gemma looked back at Robin before answering, but it was clear he wasn't going to help her as he shoved a huge bite of pancake from the tray into his mouth and shrugged. Gemma turned back to a widely grinning Starfire and said, "Well, we'll see. I don't know how long I'll be here. It might only be for a day or two."

"Why is that, new friend Gemma?"

"Um...you know, places to go, people to see."

"What places and what people?"

"Cities and people I haven't met yet."

"What cities? What kinds of people?"

"Big ones and all kinds, Starfire."

"...oh," Starfire finished. Sheesh, Gemma thought. Robin wasn't kidding, she did take getting used to. Just then, Cyborg and Beast Boy were outside the door, Cyborg gesturing to Gemma to come out and BB holding up the new Glory Racer video game. When they had both run from her sight Gemma made her move.

She stuck her hand in the nearest shopping bag and pulled out jeans and a shirt, and from the smaller bag a thong and a bra (actually, had she had the time, she would have questioned Robin about the fact that he knew she liked thong underwear and that he knew what size bra she wore, but figured it was something he could have gleaned form her file and made a mental note to burn the thing if she ever got her hands on it.) "Well," she said, slipping around the floating girl, "I think the boys mentioned something about needing an extra set of hands for their new game. Said I would play with them this morning. See you around!" Gemma waved with a smile and disappeared around the corner.

On her way down the first flight of stairs, Gemma slipped into her underwear and jeans, and on the second she shrugged off the robe and clipped her bra into place. The door to the entertainment section opened and Cyborg and BB looked around from their places on the couch. Seeing Gemma in her bra they both started hooting.

"Alright," Gemma said, setting the robe down on the couch and slipping into her black shirt she had pulled from the bag. "You'll be crying soon enough. Get ready to die!"

She hopped over the back of the sofa and landed squarely on a cushion between the boys. On the other end of the couch was a girl wearing a blue cape, black leotard, gold belt, and had what Gemma assumed to be a very powerful gem on her brow. While the boys set up the game and Gemma tied up her shoulder length hair into a ponytail, she smiled in this girl's direction, "Hi, I'm Gemma. Robin's old friend. You are...?"

"Raven," she answered in a monotone voice.

"Hi Raven. Are you playing too?"

"No...they took my book."

"Oh."

There was an uncomfortable silence, followed by an explosion of noise coming from the giant television. The game was on...in more ways than one, Gemma thought, as she took a paddle and promptly began to kick both the cyborg and the changeling's asses at their favorite pastime.

Everyone had been so nice to her. Starfire wanted to go shopping, Cyborg beat her in basketball, Beast Boy picked her brain for prank ideas, and Raven let her meditate early in the morning on the roof. Now here she was, several days later, training with Robin in the gym. She had said that she could still beat Robin, but the truth was her martial arts were out of practice.

"Come one, Gemma," Robin held a hand out and helped her up. "You never used to fall for that."

"I've changed a lot. Lost a lot." Gemma got up and rubbed her jaw a little. Robin had clocked her hard, but not as hard as he could have. She had stated that she could have kicked his ass…as if. There was no way.

"Maybe we should stop this. The League doesn't need to know I'm not actually using you as part of the team."

Gemma shook her head and sighed, walking over to the bench and grabbing a towel for her face. "They're not idiots, Robin. They're watching you guys and they're going to be watching me too. I either have to put up or disappear."

Robin didn't think it was right. Gemma had been correct years ago, she knew she wasn't a hero. But she was also right in saying she was a good teammate. This was a team. They should be able to make her into a suitable Titan. Robin stepped back onto the mat. "All right," he said, taking a stance. "Let's get you ready for the big time."

A few hours later, they were done. "You did really well at the end there. Maybe you can train with the team outside on Saturday, show them what you can do."

Gemma slung her towel over her neck and laughed. "Yeah I'm all right I guess. Maybe having grown up a little helped me out. Or working with that arrogant prick. Either way as long as I can hold my own I'll be fine."

They were walking side by side and Robin tossed his towel in his left hand over his shoulder and the other arm made itself comfortable around Gemma's shoulders. They chatted excitedly and laughed on their way back to Robin's room. It was like old times. Only they were older now.

When they stepped inside Robin's room, he sat on the couch and opened one of the many stray water bottles on the coffee table. "You can shower first if you'd like. Don't worry, I'm working on the spare room. I know you want the whole thing to be blinged out. Do you have a name yet?"

Instead of going into the bathroom right away, Gemma made herself comfortable on the couch with her own water. "Do I need one? Starfire's name is her real name, Raven's name is her real name."

"But Cyborg, Beast Boy and I have alternate names."

Gemma rolled her eyes and gulped down half her bottle, not realizing how thirty she had been until now. "Well, I suppose I could think of something. What are my abilities? I can fight hand to hand, that's about it."

"And you're a great tinker. I mean all the tools I still use now are the ones you designed for me years ago. They hardly ever break."

Gemma shrugged. "Mostly it's because I plate those things with steel and titanium parts and coated the blades with lab created sapphire. Very resilient."

Robin didn't know that his tools were worth quite that much. A bird-a-rang was intricate, certainly, but it was hard to believe that it was worth thousands of dollars. "Where did you get materials like that?"

"I made them at the Justice League training center's lab."

Robin was impressed. But he also had a name for her now. And he thought she was going to like it. "How about Trinket?"

Gemma capped her water and looked at him with a crooked smile. "I like that. But do me a favor and only call me that when we're out kicking someone's ass. At home I still want to be Gemma."

Robin smiled back. "Deal."

They were close again, sitting close enough for their thighs to be touching. All Gemma had to do would be to tilt her head and she would be comfortably resting on Robin's shoulder. As it were they were face to face. The door was locked, the other Titans were out doing something.

"You know, we never finished that talk the morning after I came here," Gemma said softly. "I think this is about where we were."

"I think you're right," Robin answered. "Any idea what was about to happen next?"

"I think I do."

Gemma made a move, leaning in close and pressing her lips to Robin's. His taste was the same as it had been a year ago when she's last kissed him. Everything still fit so perfectly. Before she knew it Gemma had swung her legs into Robin's lap and wrapping her arms around his neck. Her lips found Robin's neck, his ears, virtually every place that could be reached by her perfectly glossed lips was marked.

Robin broke off and came up for air. "You know," he breathed heavily, "that shower in there is more than big enough for two people."

"You read my mind."

"And maybe you don't need your own room after all."

Gemma chuckled and hoisted herself up. "Come on Robin don't ruin this by rushing it."

He got up and followed her into the bathroom. "We hardly ever stayed apart a year ago. We shared my room all the time; you barely stayed in yours."

Gemma flicked on the light. "That was a year ago, Robin. We've been separated. Maybe we should just take things slow and see what happens."

Robin shrugged out of his shirt and started the water. This wasn't the way he thought it would be. "I guess I just always thought we'd just pick up where we left off last year." He turned around and helped Gemma untie herself from the dojo uniform. "I loved you. I still do."

"You love me?"

The clothes fell away from Gemma, and when she turned, wearing nothing but her underwear and a thin tank top, Robin in nothing but his sweats, muscles rippling. "Of course," he responded. "I always have. And I always will."


End file.
